Pestana Palace is a

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

in Lisbon,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, in the Alcântara district. Housed in the historic Palácio Vale Flor, Pestana Palace is the flagship luxury hotel of the

Pestana Group Pestana Group is a Portuguese tourism and leisure group. Its hotel chain Pestana Hotels and Resorts has 100 hotels with over 12,000 rooms. The group manages Pousadas de Portugal since 2003. Organization The firm's main activity is tourism, hav ...

, one of Portugal's premier hotel groups. It is a member of

The Leading Hotels of the World The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. (LHW) is a marketing organization, representing more than 400 hotels in over 80 countries. Established in 1928 by European hoteliers, LHW is headquartered in New York City. History The company was establ ...

. The hotel hosted the 2023 Bilderberg Conference between May 18–21.

History

Ground was broken on the ''Palácio Vale Flor'' at the end of the 19th century, when José Luís Constantino Dias, 1st Marquis of Vale Flor. The Marquis of Vale Flor had made a fortune in coffee plantations on

Portuguese colonies The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

of São Tomé and Príncipe, islands in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and had acquired lands in Alcântara, with the intention to build a Lisbon residence. The palace was acquired in 1992 by the

, with the intention of transforming the formerly private aristocratic residence into the group's flagship luxury hotel. The group's initial plan's were stalled until 1995, when they were approved by the Portuguese Direction-General for Cultural Heritage. The ensuing project, refurbishing the palace and expanding its annexes, was executed by architect Manuel Tainha and was completed in 1997. It was classified as a National Monument in 1997.

Architecture

The initial design of the palace was done by Italian architect Nicola Bigaglia, who led works on the project until 1908, when prominent Portuguese architect José Ferreira da Costa took over the project until its completion in 1910. Numerous details throughout the palace are attributed to famed architect Miguel Ventura Terra. After the palace's construction, an extensive interior decoration campaign was executed between 1910 and 1915, under the auspices of designers Constantino Fernandes, Carlos Reis e Eugénio Cotrim.Monumentos - Palacio Vale Flor
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References

External links

* {{coord missing, Portugal Palaces in Lisbon Hotels in Lisbon National monuments in Lisbon District